The invention relates to the use of an absorbent material in the form of dried and pulverized water lily to absorb spilled liquid, in particular, spilled oil products.
Oil spills, both on land and in bodies of water, are increasing at an alarming rate. Such spills, whether small or large, present clean-up problems, and arouse environmental concerns. Large spills frequently result from oil tanker accidents, as well as from damage to oil tanks or pipelines.
Smaller spills frequently occur from defective motor vehicles and many occur around service stations and vehicle repair facilities. Such spills can be difficult to clean up and can also contaminate ground water.
An oil or petroleum product spill at sea or on a body of water is particularly difficult to contain and clean up. Depending on the location of the spill the repercussions can be of political, social, economic and/or ecological nature.
Petroleum products spilled on water suffer changes in their properties due to solar radiation, and such changes make the spill even more difficult to control and eliminate. Also, the spill is frequently spread into a thin film as a result of the winds and marine currents. Even though spilled petroleum products are subject to a natural biodegration process induced by marine bacteria, such biodegration is extremely slow and does not prevent the environmental impact resulting from the spill.
The most significant impact of the spilled oil is felt in the local and regional ecology, as the spill affects both animals and plant life. The oil can become deposited on vegetable species which will hinder their development. The petroleum products also can enter the respiratory systems of underwater species and the oil can kill larval systems that it contacts. Birds and mammals of the area are also affected by the spill.
Many different techniques have been proposed to clean and contain oil spills. For example, floating booms have been used to contain marine spills, but such booms are time consuming to place as well as providing only limited effectiveness to contain a liquid film, such as oil, in rough seas.
Chemical and biological agents have also been applied to spills; however, such applications can result in even more disastrous environmental problems.
The use of an absorbent for cleaning up oil spills has proven to be particularly effective. Absorbents are typically cheap and easy to apply without the use of specially trained workers. Also, absorbents act quickly to aid in restraining the spill. Absorbents used in the past have included tree bark, wood fiber, and cellulosic materials, including corn, cigarette filters, paper pulp, cotton, polymeric resins, granulated rock, peat moss, saw dust, straw and sponges.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,287 to Wiegand et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,519,918 to Ericsson et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,670,156 to Grenthe, all disclose the use of cellulose fibers as an oil absorbent. U.S. Pat. No. 3,562,153 to Tully et al. discloses the use of absorbent materials treated with colloidal solids, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,888,766 to De Young, discloses the use of expanded vermiculite for oil removal, while U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,715 to Mandel et al., discloses like use of a particulate of activated carbon.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,790 to Bustamante et al. discloses the use of an absorbent in the form of de-alginated, partially de-watered kelp. The kelp is an ocean plant and not available for harvest from fresh bodies of water, and requires extensive preparation prior to its use as an effective absorbent.
All of the foregoing prior art solutions have disadvantages, including prohibitive costs, limited availability and effectiveness, and difficulties in use.
It is therefore the primary object of the instant invention to provide a method for removing an oil type spill by use of an absorbent which is abundant, cheap to harvest and process, and effective in use.
It is a further object of the instant invention to provide a method for cleaning a petroleum product spill by use of an absorbent without detrimental ecological effects.